سنڌي ورچوئل لائبرري

THE LETTERS.

1. There are several distinct Characters in use for writing Sindhi, all of which spring from Sanscrit, and like it proceed from left to right. Different localities and various classes of people favor distinct styles. The subjoined Table gives the most important of these, placed in juxtaposition with one another, and with the Arabic, Devenagari, and Gurmukhi Characters, in which Sindhi is also occasionally written.
2. It will be seen by this Table, that none of the Sindhi Characters, with the exception of those used by the Khwajas, have more than four vowel-marks to express ten vowel sounds, simple and compound. They have generally but one Character for each of the simple and aspirated couples of the Devenagari ग گ and ध گھه , ज ج  and झ جھه, ट   ٽand ठ ٺ, द  د, and ध ڌ, ब ب, and भ ڀ, and also for श ش, ष ش, and स س, although the sounds are distinct. The devenagari ज  جand य  يare also generally expressed in Sindhi by the same letter.
3. The want of so many letters, and especially those for the vowels, has prevented my writing Sindhi words throughout this work in any of the Sindhi characters: I have chosen instead the Devenagari. Even the few vowel Characters the Sindhi possesses, are not written except where initial, or when beginning a medial or final syllable where the previous syllable had ended with a vowel sound[1]. On the other hand, it will be marked in the Table, that the Sindhi possesses six Characters for which there are no exact equivalents in the Devenagari. To express them, however, I have taken the nearest corresponding letters from that Alphabet, giving them, as may be seen, distinguishing marks, by means of which any word written in the Devenagari may be transposed to Sindhi, or vice versa.
4. As the learner is supposed to be acquainted with the power and use of the Devenagari letters, particulars of which may be met with in any Hindoostani or Marathee Grammar, I shall not enter into any detail regarding them[2]. It seems necessary, however, to say a few words in explanation of those Characters peculiar to Sindhi, some of which, so far as I am aware, have no equivalent in any Indian dialect, or Euorpean tongue.
5. Thus the Sindhi letter, which will be found opposite to ग॒ ڳ, is articulated by pressing the tongue against the palate, keeping the mouth somewhat open, and sounding from the throat, as in ग॒नु ڳنُ ‘a handle’.
6. ज॒ ڄ is sounded by placing the tip of the tongue against the lower teeth, the middle of it being pressed forward, and against the palate, as in ज॒रु ڄرُ ‘a leech’. These two sounds are difficult of enunciation by Euorpeans.
7. ट ٽ is sounded as a compound ट ٽ and र ر, like the tr of ‘true’, ‘trumpet’ &c. as in पुट्रु پُٽرُ  ‘a son’.
8. And ड ڊ as a hard d by turning the tip of the tongue somewhat back and striking it against the palate. This hard d has in Sindhi two distinct sounds, one of which corresponds exactly with the Sanscrit ड ڊ  when sounded as a hard d[3] as in हंडी هنڊِي  ‘a pot’. The other differs in being articulated partly from the throat, and is found in वडो॒ وڏو  ‘large’[4]
9. ड्र ڊر is sounded as dr (the above hard d connected with a soft r) as in चंड्रु چنڊرُ  ‘the moon’. This, and द د are in the Sindhi Characters generally written alike.
10. ब॒ ٻ is enunciated by pressing the lips together, and pouting them forward, throwing out the sound with greater force than in ब ب  as in बो॒ड़ो ٻوڙو  ‘deaf’.
11. ढ ڍ has in some words in Sindhi the sound of a ढ ڍ and रر  combined, as in ढ्रउ ڍرءُ (ڍءُ)  ‘satiety’. To distinguish such I shall in these cases write this letter thus ढ्र ڍر . the Sindhis, howeer, have no separate character to express this distinction.
12. All Consonants, when not prefixed in compound with another Consonant, must be sounded with a vowel; but in the Devenagari, the short vowel अ ا when following a Consonant is not written[5]. Therefore all consonants to which no vowel is affixed, or which are not prefixed in compound with another Consonant, should be sounded with an अ اَ. Where this and the two other short vowel sounds terminate a word, their pronounciation is scarcely perceptible to European ears; yet with Sindhis the distinction is apparent and marked, and, as it is important[6], it should be carefully attended to. The short sound of the अ اَ, when final, is articulated by simply prolonging the sound of the consonant and throwing it out somewhat as in खट  کٽ ‘a bedstead’; that of इ اِ  by prolonging the sound and by drawing in the corners of the mouth, emitting slightly the sound of the English vowel I, as in अखि اکِ  ‘an eye’; and that of उاُ  by lengthening the sound in the same way, and pouting forward the lips, so as to produce a partial enunciation of the vowel u, as अङरु اڱرُ  ‘a coal’.
13. The only other Sanscrit marks I have adopted in expressing the Sindhi, are the Anuswara, or quiescent nasal n, written as dot (.) placed over the letter it follows in sound it is named in sindhi tipi, as taken from the Gurmukhi, and a shorter sound of the same, called adhtipi written over the letter thus .

[1] Thus ग گ, ल ل might stand for गोलीگولِي, गुलुگُلُ, गलोگلو, गेलिگولِ, गिलो گِلو, गिलाگِلا, गोलुگولُ, गुलू گُلو or for any other word that might happen to be in use, formed by pronouncing these two Consonants with any of the vowel sounds. The Khwajas alone occasionally use the lakana, or medial vowel marks. I have been informed that these were formerly used too with other Sindhi Characters, but I have not been able to find any writing showing them.

1 For the advantage of those who may not have had much practice with the Devenagari, I have given and alphabet in the Appendix, in which is shown also the form the vowel takes when medial. A table showing the most useful compound letters is also appended to it.

[3] See the note to this letter in the Alphabet.

[4] I have not thought it necessary to distinguish these two sounds by different marks. The distinction though plain to Natives, is not at first apparent to European ears, and is of little importance.

[5] The Consonant is then called Muckto. Under this title it will be found hereafter spoken of in this work.

[6] These short final sounds often change the meaning of words, as बेरि ٻيرِ ‘the Jujube tree’ and बे॒रु ٻيرُ ‘its fruit’; अंदरु  اندرُ ‘the inside’, अंदरि اندرِ  ‘within’; and generally the gender, as छोकरु  ڇوڪرُ ‘a boy’, छोकरि  ڇوڪرِ ‘a girl’.